Bursting deep dorsal horn neurons: the pharmacological target for the antispastic effects of zolmitriptan?

In a recent publication, Thaweerattanasinp et al. (J Neurophysiol 116: 1644-1653, 2016) investigated spinal cord injury and firing properties of deep dorsal horn neurons during NMDA or zolmitriptan application by employing electrophysiology in an in vitro spinal cord preparation. Deep dorsal horn neurons were classified into bursting, simple, or tonic firing groups,with bursting neurons showing NMDA and zolmitriptan sensitivity. We discuss the findings in a methodological framework and propose future experiments of importance for translating the results into physiological settings.